"This Gun For Hire" is an excellent early film noir with an intriguing storyline and some memorable performances, especially from Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. The screenplay by W.R. Burnett and Albert Maltz was adapted from Graham Greene's novel "A Gun For Sale" and incorporates a heady mixture of blackmail, murder, betrayal, revenge, espionage and treason to ensure that the excitement never flags. This movie's famous for propelling Alan Ladd to star status and also features the first appearance of the now legendary Ladd-Lake partnership.
The opening scenes quickly establish that Phillip Raven (Alan Ladd) is a ruthless hit man who loves cats but has absolutely no compunction about violently attacking a maid without any real provocation. After killing a chemist who'd been blackmailing the Nitro Chemical Corporation (NCC) and having been paid by their employee, Willard Gates (Laird Cregar), he discovers that he's been paid in marked bills and that the police have been informed that the money was stolen from the NCC. Predictably, this sets Raven off in pursuit of Gates so that he can take revenge as swiftly as possible.
Gates also runs "The Neptune Club" where he employs an entertainer called Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake). By coincidence, Ellen is the fiancée of Police Lieutenant Michael Crane (Robert Preston), who's been put in charge of tracking down the alleged thief.
Raven's pursuit of Gates leads him to take a train journey to LA during which he meets Ellen. When Gates sees that Raven's on the train, he notifies the police but Raven's successful escape leads to a sequence of events which culminate in Ellen persuading Raven to abandon his quest for deadly revenge and to take a course of action which ultimately brings an end to the NCC's involvement in a plot to sell a secret poison gas formula to one of the US's wartime enemies.
Alan Ladd is very impressive as the cold, laconic, psychopathic killer who hates and distrusts everyone and never shows any sign of humour or emotion. The root of his personality disorder lies in his appalling childhood experiences which he describes to Ellen whose manner towards him draws out an element of trust which he, almost certainly, hasn't ever shown to anyone else before in his adult life.
Ellen is the most compelling character in the story as she's not only a singer, dancer and magician but also Crane's fiancée, Raven's confidante, Gates' employee and an agent who's been employed by the government to gather evidence about the traitorous activities of the NCC, Willard Gates and the corporation's evil boss, Alvin Brewster (Tully Marshall). Veronica Lake displays a kind of cool composure which is very engaging and the level of warmth which she shows towards Raven in finely balanced and proves to be precisely what's required to gain his trust.
Laird Cregar provides good support as the fat, slimy Gates who's hooked on peppermints and perfectly happy to be an agent of death even though he has no stomach for violence himself. Tully Marshall also gives a very colourful performance as an elderly invalid who's irredeemably wicked and wheelchair bound but also a powerful and traitorous top industrialist. John Seitz's cinematography with its expert use of shadows perfectly enhances the sense of menace and distrust which seems to pervade the whole movie and the fact that it remains so interesting and entertaining so many years after it was made is strong evidence of its considerable quality.
The opening scenes quickly establish that Phillip Raven (Alan Ladd) is a ruthless hit man who loves cats but has absolutely no compunction about violently attacking a maid without any real provocation. After killing a chemist who'd been blackmailing the Nitro Chemical Corporation (NCC) and having been paid by their employee, Willard Gates (Laird Cregar), he discovers that he's been paid in marked bills and that the police have been informed that the money was stolen from the NCC. Predictably, this sets Raven off in pursuit of Gates so that he can take revenge as swiftly as possible.
Gates also runs "The Neptune Club" where he employs an entertainer called Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake). By coincidence, Ellen is the fiancée of Police Lieutenant Michael Crane (Robert Preston), who's been put in charge of tracking down the alleged thief.
Raven's pursuit of Gates leads him to take a train journey to LA during which he meets Ellen. When Gates sees that Raven's on the train, he notifies the police but Raven's successful escape leads to a sequence of events which culminate in Ellen persuading Raven to abandon his quest for deadly revenge and to take a course of action which ultimately brings an end to the NCC's involvement in a plot to sell a secret poison gas formula to one of the US's wartime enemies.
Alan Ladd is very impressive as the cold, laconic, psychopathic killer who hates and distrusts everyone and never shows any sign of humour or emotion. The root of his personality disorder lies in his appalling childhood experiences which he describes to Ellen whose manner towards him draws out an element of trust which he, almost certainly, hasn't ever shown to anyone else before in his adult life.
Ellen is the most compelling character in the story as she's not only a singer, dancer and magician but also Crane's fiancée, Raven's confidante, Gates' employee and an agent who's been employed by the government to gather evidence about the traitorous activities of the NCC, Willard Gates and the corporation's evil boss, Alvin Brewster (Tully Marshall). Veronica Lake displays a kind of cool composure which is very engaging and the level of warmth which she shows towards Raven in finely balanced and proves to be precisely what's required to gain his trust.
Laird Cregar provides good support as the fat, slimy Gates who's hooked on peppermints and perfectly happy to be an agent of death even though he has no stomach for violence himself. Tully Marshall also gives a very colourful performance as an elderly invalid who's irredeemably wicked and wheelchair bound but also a powerful and traitorous top industrialist. John Seitz's cinematography with its expert use of shadows perfectly enhances the sense of menace and distrust which seems to pervade the whole movie and the fact that it remains so interesting and entertaining so many years after it was made is strong evidence of its considerable quality.